JapanAxe

Plug an iPod or something into the Aux Input and play something with lots of cymbals in it. This should bypass all the tone controls. Get your ear down by the tweeter (careful with the volume!) and listen. You should hear a difference when you put your hand over the tweeter - if not, your tweeter is dead. If all is good, try playing your bass with a plectrum, and all controls on the guitar full up. Compare between full treble boost and full treble cut on the amp. I bet you can hear a difference now!

If your cab is working right, it will give you up to 20kHz thanks to the tweeter. Without the tweeter it would only give you up to about 4kHz. According to TC's tech specs, the BH500's treble control operates to cut at 1.6kHz and boost at 4kHz. It doesn't say what the tweetertone does, but presumably it is meant to operate on higher frequencies. All this makes me wonder how much top end is coming out of your bass in the first place. What bass are you playing, is it active or passive, what strings are on it, and how new are they?

Another benefit of adding a BF midget is that this effectively gives you [b]three[/b] rigs: Amp + Midget = tiny but surprisingly big-sounding rig - I also use this as my practice set-up Amp + Compact = what you have now, and what I use for function band gigs Amp + Compact + Midget = take no prisoners - I use this for loud rock gigs Of course if you then get another (spare) head, you have the same all over again in a different flavour, plus you can have two complete amps set up for teaching (if that's your thang). At the risk of stating the obvious, don't just add any other 8ohm cab to your Compact, as they are not likely to play together nicely, let alone look bitchin'! Finally, if you are anywhere near Swindon, PM me to try your bass guitar and amp head through various Midget/Compact combinations. I can even play guitar while you do this to give you an idea how it would all sound in a band context. Oops - have I stoked your gas!? [font=comic sans ms,cursive][i]PS - I am not looking to sell any part of my bass rig.[/i][/font]

Is there even much of a market in the real thing? Seems to me the main use for Ric guitars is to recreate the look and sound of famous users - Beatles, Byrds, Jam, Tom petty etc.

Nice!

Underwhelmed when I tried them, and yes they are heavy. Went for BF in the end.

If only I lived closer... I would stiil fall way short of what a gig like this requires!

What happened to the 'visual fail' then?

I am pretty busy playing skinny-string guitar in my own band at the moment, and only occasionally needing to brush up on my bass repertoire for a gig. I have two honking great ring-binders of bass transcriptions that I like to play through. I realise I have tended to skip over the ones that I find awkward or difficult technique-wise. So my latest cunning plan is to go through the transcriptions again, and when I come across a tricky one, I'll move it to my 'challenge folder'. Then I can work on it at my leisure and concentrate on breaking it down to the elements of technique that I need to improve. Wish me luck!

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1385408652' post='2287965'] Amp + BF Compact = Amp + BF Compact + BF Midget = [/quote] This

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1385409295' post='2287976'] are you talking ... bedroom bassists who squeeze their assets into skimpy tops whilst pressing them squidgingly against their basses for all to see on youtube [/quote] Err... could you post some links?

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1369834042' post='2093212'] I think that`s the main problem Ben, it`s unlikely amps will blow at regular gig volumes, but having drinks placed on them is an accident waiting to happen. [/quote] I've had a sax player leave his drink (thankfully only bottled water) on top of my guitar amp. I politely asked him to remove it. I wonder what he'd have thought if, instead, I'd shoved it into the end of his sax!

Sorry but nothing there for me to like. Except humbuckers.

[quote name='steviedee' timestamp='1385398897' post='2287753'] Got round to buying some bigger rubber feet for my Streamliner so it can get over the handle of my barefaced midget. The feet are huge, however with big feet comes a big hole for a big screw. I imagine a washer will work at one end but is there any way I can fill the remainder hole? Maybe jam in the content of couple of boxes of matches? [/quote] I fitted doorstops to the bottom of my Streamliner for the exact same reason. I put 2 or 3 small washers in each hole before fitting the bolts. I did this mainly so that the bolts did not protrude too far into the chassis, as it could be pretty catastrophic if they contacted a circuit board or mangled a component.

Bleeagh! It's just about tolerable on the Pawn Shop Mustang, but these are rank [size=1](imo)[/size]:

Shame! The Precision often gets overlooked when it comes to 5-string and fretless basses - maybe it is considered too meat-and-potatoes compared to the Jazz?

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1385384788' post='2287537'] Actually, the BEST advice I could give you is to post one of the tracks up here. There are some very experienced musicians on this site and as a collective I think Basschat would be able to offer very constuctive advice on what may be wrong, be it groove, your tone, etc. that would be far more informative than simply suggesting reverb. I can understand if you didn't want to however. [/quote] This. We promise to be gentle with you. *crosses fingers behind back* A DI'd bass can sound kind of naked and raw. On the vexed subject of reverb, there are a couple of 'room ambience' settings on my Korg Pandora (I think they're called 'wet' and 'dry') that are great for de-sterilising a bass sound. I'm sure there are equivalents on various studio units and plug-ins - just enough short reverb to suggest a small ambient space, not washes of cathedral spaciousness!

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1385320764' post='2286910'] Keep the foam rubber in mind [/quote] I rarely think of anything else... sigh...

[quote name='Chooglin stu' timestamp='1385320443' post='2286901'] Wel am 28 and av been playing from the age of 15 ... I can't read any music and if you asked me to play a scale I wouldn't know where the hell to start lol but there's nothing I can't play ! I just need to hear a song and I pick it out and I always play the songs properly and miss nothing , my brothers the same , he plays guitar and together we play in a David bowie tribute band , so in my opinion you just need to have a good ear to be a good musician [/quote] If you are lucky enough to have a 'good ear' from the off, fair enough, but I have found that knowing and understanding scales has helped my musical ear no end. BTW which Bowie tribute are you in? I'm a huge Bowie fan.

I don't even know if there [i]are[/i] springs under the pickup. It's more likely a loose base plate. I'm going to fix it after I've tidied my sock drawer.

Although I carry spares of the pre-amp, power amp, and rectifier valves for my guitar amp, as well as all the relevant fuses, in reality if it died on a gig I would plug into the PA and make the best of it.